


Nightmare

by GlitchyWorld324



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Body Horror, Cannibalism, Darkness, Deaths, F/M, Gore, Guts - Freeform, I'm super tired, M/M, Mutilation, OC, Physical Torture, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Self-Mutilation, Willowson - Freeform, a lot of it, hunger, i like to make Wilson suffer, just a lil' bit, maxwil - Freeform, temporary deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2018-12-02 00:59:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11498454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitchyWorld324/pseuds/GlitchyWorld324
Summary: The voices were so loud... I can't feel my hands.. is that blood dripping from my nose? Oh god, am I dying? Who is that moving in the shadows? I need help.. someone's coming closer, I didn't realize how screwed I was until I heard HIS voice."Say pal..."





	1. A Deal

The sound of my heart beating in my chest told me that I was still alive, the throbbing in my head told me that I was suffering, my injured arm and eye that bled profusely told me that I was still in hell.  
Wondering around in Darkness, I just had to find the door.. the way out.. I was almost there… I was..  
The voices that surrounded me grew louder and louder, some of them were telling me that “You’re going to die”, some told me to “stop and go back while you still can”, and some said things like “He’s going to find you” or “You better hide before he comes after you”  
The voices confused me and drove my sanity down more than it should.  
The eyes that watched me from the shadows as the light from my torch illuminated the ground around me, but not that much to see whatever was in front of me.  
My legs felt weak, like they were going to give out, and they were.  
I stop walking, dropping my torch to the ground, I collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily as I looked down at my left leg, pulling up the pant leg and revealing my injured leg that had a hound bite mark on it.  
My head was killing me, it felt like I was forgetting who I was the longer I stayed here.  
‘My name is Wilson Percival Higgbury, I’m a scientist, I was tricked by that bastard into coming here… I.. I.. oh god.. is that blood?’ My thoughts came to a complete halt as blood drip onto my shirt making me panic.  
I moved my left hand up to my face, using the back of my gloved hand to wipe away the blood dripping from my nose.  
My eyes widen as I looked around wildly hearing the voices around me get louder and louder.  
“He found you.. it’s too late to run.. your fucked..” they reminded me of what was chasing me.  
'Oh shit.. I’m fucked.. I’m beyond fucked.. I’m-’  
“Hello, Mr. Higgsbury…” the voice rang out so loud and clear into the Darkness that I nearly jumped out of my skin. I scrambled to grab my things, feeling the cold hands of death wrap its long and slender fingers around my neck, choking me and preventing air from going into my lungs.  
I let out something mixed between a whine and a cry out for help.  
The voices laughed and cried as the demon had one giant clawed hand wrapped around my slim neck, chocking me to death.  
“Why are you such a troublemaker? Can’t you just leave me be?” The man, named Maxwell Carter, had asked me in a threatening tone as his other hand that wasn’t wrapped around my neck moved to the side, being placed on the ground as Maxwell’s long, sharp, canine teeth bared at me, his teeth had a fairly large amount of dried blood on them.  
I stared in shock as he seemed to be contemplating on what to do with me.  
“W-What.. what happened t… to Willow?” I strained to ask, trying to move my head back out of his grip, hot tears soon began to form on the corner of my eyes as my vision began to blur. I knew Willow had followed behind me when I entered through Maxwell’s Door.  
“Oh, the little fire starter? Well, let’s just say you aren’t going to be seeing her for a very long time.” Maxwell let out a dark chuckle, his hot breath tickling my face, the smell of nicotine laced his breath like how you can faintly detect the small English accent in every word he said.  
I lifted my hands, finally finding Maxwell’s hand that was closed around my neck, I tried to dig my fingers into the clawed hand, trying to keep his hands away from my neck. I manage to break his grasp on my neck for only a split second before his other hand- which was laying on the ground by my hip- his other hand snatched both of my wrists, dragging them down to the grassy path with little patches of cobblestone in it.  
“Say pal, lets make a deal.” His voice was hoarse and sounded more demonic than it should- even for someone like him- Maxwell, removed his hand from around my neck and rested it on my hip.  
The torch that illuminated the ground around us soon gave out, making me panic as I tried to catch my breath.  
“Hold on pal.” Maxwell whispered, I closed my eyes, hearing loud hissing before a sudden whoosh of air came whizzing past me and bright lights surrounded me.  
Reopening my eyes, blue flames surrounded us, keeping the Darkness away… keeping Them away…  
Maxwell still had a iron grip on my wrists making them bruise and sore. He didn’t even move from his spot as he looked to the side before back at me.  
“Here’s the deal.” He shifted on his legs, getting into a more comfortable position as he leaned back a little bit. “I’ll let you go- start on a new island- make surviving during the winter a breeze and gathering food a bit easier for you.”  
'Well, that sounded like a swell deal..! Almost too swell..’ I thought as I looked Maxwell in the eyes, “W-What’s the catch?” I asked, my voice still a bit scratchy from being choked.  
Maxwell laughed, a good heartedly laugh, that soon turned sour and evil.  
“I can’t get anything pass that smart brain of yours!” Maxwell laughed, before grabbing me by the face, his claws digging into my cheeks, now scowling me. “The only catch is that you must become a little test subject!”  
My eyes widen, “What kind of test subject?” I asked feeling Maxwell’s hands move from my body and up in front of my face.  
My mouth was forced open by the shadow hands that protruded from the ground as Maxwell summoned a strange shadow creature in his clawed hands. I watched in shock as Maxwell picked up the strange creature that was dripping with nightmare fuel hanging it over my wide open mouth. My pupils seemed to dilate- I kicked, tried to pull away, and even tried to close my mouth, but the shadow hands prevented my mouth from ever closing.  
“S-Stop..! M-Maxwell!” I begged, trying to get my legs free from under Maxwell’s body.  
When the creature was dropped into my mouth, I gagged and coughed, trying to spit it out, I felt the creature move around and squirm in the back of my throat as its claws dug into the back of my neck, trying to force its way down my throat.  
The shadow hands covered my mouth after forcing it close, keeping me from spitting the foul creature out of my mouth.  
As I tried to push the creature away from the back of my mouth, my reflexes came in and made me swallow the shadow creature down, causing me to almost puke.  
The nightmare fuel that layered its body felt like slime and oil- getting stuck on the inside of my throat and mouth.  
I took a couple of more swallows before the shadow hands moved away from my mouth letting me take deep breaths.  
My stomach began to hurt, making me howl in pain and agony.  
“W-What the hell..? What was that thing!” I shouted at Maxwell, looking up at the monster who stood up, laughing.  
“Just a new little experiment.” He stated calmly, walking over my body, he crouched down and growled into my ear, “Now for that reset..”  
I didn’t have time to react as Maxwell’s clawed hands went for my neck, ripping my throat out of its rightful place, I gagged and struggled to breath as my own blood filled my lungs to the brim making me cough and make gurgling sounds, but Maxwell wasn’t done, being the monster he is, he began to rip my stomach open, tearing out organs and pieces of meat and flesh from my body, I felt numb. I felt lightheaded..  
Oh, all I want to do is to go home..  
But I knew Maxwell didn’t want me to leave just yet.


	2. Hunger

When I came to, I was laying outside of Maxwell's Door, my body's sprawled out like a lifeless corpse.

The chilling air clung to my body, making me remember that winter was just around the corner- or it should've been.

The loud squawking of penguins made me realize that I've been in Maxwell's... dimensions for longer than I thought.

Sitting up slowly, the snow that covered the ground made my assumption that it was winter true.

Getting up from my spot, I headed back to camp.

My mind was still fuzzy, so I wasn't thinking straight.

My ears were ringing so loud that every sound that anything made- squawking, the snow crunching under my feet, or even my breathing- made my ears shoot with pain.

My bones hurt and it felt like something was crawling under my skin.

But I knew one thing I was feeling... hunger..

My teeth ached, feeling like they were being pushed out of my gums or something was growing under them, but I tried to ignore the pains in my body and make my way back to camp.

I spotted the walls of my camp once I pushed past a couple of bushes that had no berries growing on them.

'I'm so hungry.. I got to find something to eat..!' I thought as I leaned against the cold stone walls of my camp, following it around to the entrance of the stone walls that led into my camp.

Once I had walked into camp, I started the fire with the stray chopped logs I had lying around my camp before digging through all of my wooden chests, only to find that I didn't have any food on me.

My stomach twisted and turned making me cry out in pain as it felt like I was being stabbed in the stomach with a long dagger.

Resting my head on my arm that laid across the lid of one of my wooden chests, I bit my bottom lip, closing my eyes as I tried to focus on something else other than the pain.

When the pain finally subsided, I slowly stood from my spot, looking around slowly, my eyes scanned my camp, a frustrated sigh escaped from my lips.

"That bastard.. stole all of my things.. should've known that the deal wouldn't be that simple..." I noted, walking around my camp, trying to find the recourses to build a spear, or a sword- anything I could use to get food and protect myself when the hounds come out to kill me.

My vision was blurred to the point where I couldn't exactly see anything, the corners of my vision were soon enveloped in shadows making me become paranoid.

I began to stumble out of camp, I had to find food.. I had to find something to eat..

My mind was running at least one hundred miles per hour, making my head hurt.

I fell to the ground for a moment, trying to think straight, I covered my eyes as they began to strain and it felt like someone was clawing them out.

After a few moments, I uncovered my eyes when I heard a rabbits scream, my eyes widen as I spotted the rabbit running away into one of its many holes that were scattered across the ground.

My instincts immediately changed from building a trap and capturing a rabbit to digging them out with my hands.

I scrambled over to one of the holes, reaching my hand as far as it could go into the rabbit hole before desperately clawing at what ever was in there.

My mind wasn't processing what I was doing properly, so I thought what I was doing was considered 'normal' by my standards.

When my hand finally got ahold of the rabbit, I yanked its body right out of the hole. It kicked and squirmed in my grip, my mouth was watering as I opened my mouth and took a huge bite out of the rabbits neck.

When the blood hit my tongue, all the pain that I felt ceased to exist. There was no stabbing pain in my stomach or eyes, my head cleared up, and my skin stopped feeling like something was moving around under it.

I sat there for a moment, digging my teeth into the neck a little bit deeper before finally realizing what I've done.

I spit the rabbit out, wiping my mouth with my gloves to get the blood off, I stared at the blood on my gloved hands, eyes wide with shock.

"W.. what did I do..? Why did I do that..?" I looked back down at the rabbit, my stomach growled with hunger, it felt like I was losing control again as I grabbed the rabbit and took a chunk of flesh out of the rabbits stomach.

I tried to stop myself from swallowing the raw meat, knowing I'd get sick, but instead, I swallowed, feeling a few bone shards poke the inside of my throat causing me to groan in discomfort.

I continued to feast on the dead rabbit corpse, not leaving any meat on the medium sized rabbit. When I was done, I felt sick.

Not to my stomach, but the fact that I would've done something like that!

I slowly got up, my legs were trembling as I got up off the ground.

"What the.. what the hell? Why did I do that? Why is this happening?" I looked around for a moment before I decided to go find a few more rabbits, in case I get that hungry again.

Heading back to camp wasn't a problem, in fact I noticed that I wasn't freezing to death, I spent almost an hour away from the fire, in the freezing weather, and I was barely freezing.

When I reached camp, I put a few more logs into the fire to keep it going, 'Maybe it hasn't gotten cold enough to kill me yet.' I reassured myself.

My stomach growled again, letting me know that one rabbit wasn't going to be enough to hold me over for the night.

I grabbed one of the many dead rabbits, checking my bag that I had on my back when I woke up next to Maxwell's Door to see if I can find my knife that I made out of flint and a small stick with grass holding it together.

Once I found my knife I began to cut the rabbits pelt off of its body, skinning the rabbit, I tossed the pelt to the side of me before roasting the rabbit over the fire.

Once it was done roasting I began to eat it.

I ate only a few so that my hunger would stay down until I can figure out what's going on.

Settling in for the night, I began to think about what had happened just the day before.

Miss Willow and I were going through Maxwell's Door together, we wanted out of here and he knew it.

But what I didn't want was for her to be killed..

I was expecting to see her when I woke up, or at least back at camp, but I haven't seen any sign of her or anything on fire..

'Maybe she isn't ever coming back..?'

That thought made my spine shiver..

'No.. she has to be alive.. Maxwell wouldn't just kill her off like that.. I mean she's way more ''entertaining to watch trying to survive in this hell whole than me" .. well, according to Maxwell that is.. but even so.. I do want her out of here, but not like that..' My train of thoughts were sent to a crashing halt when I heard something rustle in the bushes nearby in the darkness.

I stood up, grabbing a log from the campfire and holding it in front of me, trying to see who it was.

The hounds shouldn't be out at this time, so what could it be?

When I headed over to the bushes that didn't have any berries growing on them due to the sudden change of seasons, I pushed back the bushes to see-

"SQUAWK!"

"AH!" I screamed in surprise seeing a turkey jump out of the bushes towards me, knocking me to the ground.

"Damned bird!" I yelled at it as I watch it try to find another berry bush to hide in.

I got back up, dusting my pants off, I picked up my torch and headed back to the campfire, throwing it into the fire to add more fuel.

'Its not going to find much food due to this weather.. maybe I could set a trap to catch it.. but first things first.. I need to make a spear when morning comes..'


	3. Parasite

When morning came around, I could tell it had gotten colder..

However it wasn't the cold that bothered me, it was the smell of something burning.

Sitting up immediately, I looked at the campfire to find my bag was burning.

"Crap!" I yelled as I scrambled to get up, grabbing a nearby stick, I manage to yank my bag out of the fire.

Everything was gone.. I couldn't save anything. The bag was nothing but ash- being only held together by a few patches of grass that hadn't caught on fire- it was destroyed along with the food and resources I had gathered yesterday/still had in my bag.

Letting out a low growl, I slammed the bag on the ground and began to stomp on it.

It was rare for me to express these fits of rage, but sometimes it was just too much for me to handle.

I kicked the bag into the air of anger, ash flew upwards and into my face, causing me to cough and gag when I inhaled the ash.

I moved away from the bag as it hit the grass only a few feet away from me with a loud thud. I sat there coughing and gagging, wrapping my hands around my neck, I tried to steady my breathing, which was more difficult than it looked but, once I manage to get my breathing to a moderately normal level, I had gathered myself together and decided to head out for supplies.

I knew that daylight was going to be a problem since it's going to be shortened by the long winter nights, so I usually manage on making a list of things that were important to get first before nightfall.

Right now, I had to get resources to make an axe and a pickaxe to build a science machine and to get a steady supply of fuel for the long winter nights as well as food.

I headed out of camp, going towards the lake that was in the middle of this island- maybe I could find the other survivors and they can help me? I gathered what I could from some saplings here and there and the occasional flint lying on the ground, I manage to build an axe and pickaxe in due time.

I noted the sun in the sky had reached its highest peek, soon it'll be descending behind the horizon, I hope I can gather enough resources to have at least half of today's work done.

I guess you could say it was a normal day.

I collected everything that I needed, I made a couple of things here and there, I ate seeds and left the berry bushes untouched so that I'd have a decent food supply when winter comes, it was odd however when I ate the seeds- maybe they were spoiled? Every time I ate the seeds it tasted like charcoal but hey, food is food. It was until I made it to the checkered floors with Maxwell's destroyed toys lying not too far from where I was standing, I remember the first time Willow and I had found this place a few winters ago- that was how we measured the time here since we don't exactly know what month it is, only by seasons, we decided to declare that every winter equals a year- when I walked into the middle of the checkered area, I thought I heard something snap, that was when I realize that something was following me.

It wasn't human as I could make out the quick and fast footsteps that approached where I was in quick strides.

'Hounds already? But I didn't hear any warnings..' I knew I had to find something to protect myself with, so I quickly went for my axe. I gripped the handle in an iron grip as I pulled it close to my chest, looking around, I tried to pinpoint where the hounds were coming from.

The whirling wind and the howling of hounds made me confused to where they were coming from since the whirling wind mimicked the sound of a hounds howl- it sounded like they were coming from all directions.

'I had to get somewhere safe.. I had to.. oh god, I'm so hungry..' I bit my bottom lip until it bled from how my stomach seem to cave in on itself from the new hunger that I was experiencing- it felt like the hunger I experienced just last night.

I shifted in place- my legs felt numb, my breathing was quickening the longer I stayed in place. I began to back away from where I was standing, dropping my axe, I reached up to my head, it felt like someone just bashed my head in with a rock.

It was no surprise that the hounds found me, and I knew that they'll kill me. I'll be ripped apart, limb by limb, by these wild dogs that obey every command Maxwell tells them, but when the first four hounds jumped out into the clearing-

'I guess I deserved it..?'

-I couldn't even look up at them-

'I left Willow to die..'

-All I felt was the rough impact of the hard concrete checkered flooring, I was on the ground-

'She just wanted to help, and.. and she's dead..'

-I guess the teeth digging into my flesh and the large paws clawing at my skin and clothing was enough to snap me out of my trance.

I screamed in pain as more and more of the hounds flooded around me, bitting anything they could sink their teeth in. I tried to escape- tried to get one of my hands or feet free, but the hounds had a death grip on me.

My vision blurred, I think my arm is dislocated. I don't exactly know but all I knew was there was a searing pain where my left shoulder was.

I don't know what happened next.

One moment I was being teared apart- the next, all of the hounds were dead and I sat against a stump of a tree- panting and holding my stomach.

'Did I black out?' I closed my eyes, sighing heavily, 'Huh, the hunger's gone..' I removed my hands that were securely around my stomach- it was one quick glance that made me sick to my stomach- it was one glance at the hounds that made my stomach do flips and for me to feel nauseous- it was the fact that blood covered me that made me want to throw up.

I tried to stand up, but the moment I stood up, a shot of pain ran through my body.

I stumbled forward, before collapsing onto the ground on my hands and knees, I groaned in pain, planting my head on the ground and digging my nails into the concrete below me, I didn't even notice my finger nails scrapping against the concrete, being pulled out by the rough texture of the flooring, I let out a whine of pain, trying to focus on something else other than the pain searing through my body.

"H.. help.." I whispered, trying to ignore that screaming pain that was traveling through my torso.

"Say pal, you don't look so good." My head shot up when I heard his voice. 'Why him? Why does he insist on tormenting me?'

"W.. what do you.. ugh.." I felt something in the back of my throat, making me cough and gag trying to spit it out. Maxwell was standing next to me, a devilish smirk placed upon his face as he watch me with enjoyment at my suffering.

"I see the Parasite is treating you well, don't you think, Percival?" Maxwell asked, I knew it was a rhetorical question and that it didn't need an answer but, it wasn't going to stop me from glaring daggers at the demon standing besides me.

"It's a shame, really." Maxwell took a drag from his cigar, blowing the smoke into the air, his eyes locked onto my trembling body, "This is just the first step to the transformation, it's not all that painful really." As if on cue, my back snapped out of place, a sickening crack followed right after. My eyes filled with tears and I cried out in pain, seeing how my body was shifting and cracking in and out of several places.

I had a hunch in my back, my shoes ripped off of my feet, exposing the claws growing out of my feet, my fingernails were pushed out of their respectful places and fell onto the ground, I watched in horror when my pinky finger and ring finger began to fuse together, my thumb was forcefully moved backwards, instead of being at the side of my hands it was now on the back of my palm- almost like a canines paw.

I pushing my tongue against my teeth, crying out in pain, I moved my hand up to my teeth when I felt how much they moved when my tongue pressed against them, I cried out louder seeing how my teeth were falling out of their respectful places, blood built up in my mouth causing me to cough and gag, I spat the blood out of my mouth along with a most of my teeth.

"W.. what's.. h.. happening..?" I tried to cover my mouth, but the blood was filling up my mouth, I had to spit it out, I couldn't stand the taste of blood.

Pain soon erupted from my mouth, I placed my claws into my bloody mouth, feeling razor sharp teeth fill in the places where my teeth use to be.

I cried out in pain and agony, my body was still somewhat human, but it was mainly morphed into some sort of monster as well.

"W.. what did.. what did you do to me?" I cried out, looking at my hands in fear.

Maxwell just laughed at my form, "Now, now, Higgsbury! No need for that! You should be happy!" Maxwell bellowed, holding his head from how hard he was laughing, "It's a good look for you, honestly!" When his laughter finally died down, Maxwell grabbed me by my chin, "See this as... a second chance for not killing you."

He smiled at me before moving away from me, "Don't worry though, soon you won't be able to remember your precious Willow, nor how you became the monster you are soon to become."

With that being said, Maxwell disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving me alone once again.

How was I suppose to find the other survivors looking like this?


	4. Losing Memory

Night was coming faster than I would've ever liked it to. I was struggling to get my fire lit, and I think my sanity is taking its toll with the nightmare flowers that laid nearby and the approaching night. I dont like this, I just wanted to go home.

A small smile crept across my face at an old memory that came across my mind- blooming like a flower in the sun light. It had a welcoming warmth to it and just like this world, it was also a cold, dark reminder that I would never get to go back home- to see my family or witness another family gathering, but just as it appeared- it soon disappeared into the cold blackness that seemed to lurk in my mind.  
The fire that I was working on lit with a spark of the flint against one of the rocks, in a couple of seconds the flame was large enough to enveloped me with its warmth.

I ran a clawed hand through my wild and unkept hair, freezing for a second when I felt something poke at my fingertips. I poked at the thing before trying to pull it out of my hair, but once pain began to shoot through my head I stopped my attempts to pull whatever it was out of my head. Feeling around again, I found out that the object was attach to my scalp and not only that, but there was two of them and they both had a dull point to them. 'Horns? Did he give me horns?' I placed my hand on the ground, sitting there deep in my own thoughts. 'Horns, claws, sharp teeth- is he trying to turn me into a monster, or at least make me look like one?' It made no sense to me- why make me a monster? If anything it'll make killing me a lot harder and- a memory came back into my mind. It was the same memory from before, I closed my eyes, trying to keep it in my head for just a little longer.

Ah, I remember this. It was when Willow and I spent our first winter together. I had caught the flu unfortunately and Willow had to take care of me for half of the winter. I remember Willow wouldn't leave my side for the first three weeks of winter until we both needed food and resources to survive the winter. I remember the warmth of a rather large and dangerous fire Willow had made every time she came back from her trips from getting the needed resources, then the memory began to fade.

I reopened my eyes- the memory disappeared back into the darkness, but I was greeted with an almost dead fire when I reopened my eyes, "Oh-" I scrambled to get up, digging my hands into the ground, I ripped the grass out- tossing them into the dying flames, it only helped a little bit but not that much- it wasn't going to last the whole night.

I closed my eyes, sighing heavily, I couldn't do much about it anyway. I had no way of making a torch- I had no resources, and walking out into the night without a light wasn't my ideal way of dying.

I began whimpering, curling up into a ball, I let out a sob, looking up into the sky, I just wanted to go home- was that too much to ask for? I guess it was considering the fact that my fire just went out.

It was quiet. Then it happened- a harsh hiss, then pain.

It first starts off as a funny feeling in your stomach, then it turns into a harsh burning sensation before it shoots up into your throat and it feels like something ripping you in half. It didn't last long however. For me, it was only pain for at least a minutes before I ended up loosing too much blood and I died from it.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing that came to me was a head splitting headache, then I heard his voice.  
"Say pal, you don't look so good."

I don't know what came over me- at one second I was in pain-and in another second, I shot up from the spot where I laid, a animalistic growl escaped from my mouth, I reached up to Maxwell's suit, grabbing a hold of it, I was about to claw his eyes out when shadow hands shot up from the ground, grabbing a hold of my wrists and wrapping roughly around my torso and legs before yanking me down to the floor. I let out a snarl, thrashing my legs and arms around, trying to break free.

"Oh, Mr. Higgbury, what's with the sudden hostility?" Maxwell chuckled, watching me fight against his shadow hands. I hissed at Maxwell, seeing Maxwell come close to me, he crouched down, he took off his glove and placed his hand on my forehead. I shivered against his cold hand, seeing how he didn't move from his spot, I somewhat relaxed against his hands. "Have you calmed down yet?" His eyes locked onto mine for a second before finally he moved his hand through my hair, "Ah, your horns are growing out." I groaned with discomfort when Maxwell pulled on the slightly longer horns, pulling my head away only for a second, Maxwell gave me a look of disapproval when I moved away from his touch. Maxwell moved back a little bit and with a flick of his wrist I was flipped onto my stomach, my face shoved into the ground.

"Tell me, Wilson." Maxwell began, "What do you remember?" I gave him a confused look, before answering, "I remember the day I met you, the day you dragged me here and left me to suffer, I re-" He cut me off, "And Willow?" I thought for a second, "Who?" I didn't know anyone named Willow. At least, I don't think so. Silence had fallen over the both of us before Maxwell continued. "Willow. A young raven hair girl in her early twenty's. She adores setting things on fire." Maxwell patted my shoulder, "You got her killed." My eyes shot open, 'Willow.. Willow.. Willow.. I know the name.. but why can't I put a face to it?'

"I.. I don't know her." I was dissapointed and from the heavy sigh that escaped from Maxwell's lips- he must of been too. "Its ashamed, really. She was basically the light of your life and yet," Maxwell tangled his ungloved hand into my hair before yanking on my hair, I let out a loud groan. "How can you not remember someone who's taken care of you for 4 years now? Perhaps that little Parasite is erasing a lot more memories than I would like." Wilson tried to pull his head away, "Listen close, Higgsbury." Maxwell leaned close to my face, I could feel his breath on my ear, "You will slowly lose your memory. It will start out slow- forgetting your family, how we met, how you came to this place." Maxwell let go of my hair, pushing my head into the ground. "And if you die, my little Parasite will take away chunks of your memory and soon, you won't even know that there was a part of you that was human. You will be my little obedient pet." With that being said, he stood up from where he was crouching, looking down over my morphed body, "Oh, by the way." Maxwell dug the heel of his shoe into my spin, applying a lot of pressure on it, "Try to attack me like you did a few minutes before and I'll make sure your next transformation is as painful as when Charlie kills you." And with that, he was gone and I was left alone.


	5. A New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Losing one puppet was a hard decision for Maxwell to make, but getting a new one did add a bit more ‘fun’ to this little game they play.

I don't know how long I was wondering around the desert, but it must of been for at least three hours. My legs were killing me- my eyes burned from the bright blinding lights, and my teeth ached from the constant grinding I was doing with them.

I let out a small sigh, licking my lips slightly, my lips were chapped and it didn't help that my tongue was more like a snake rather than a humans. I was so close to the next biome- I could see it in the distance- a forest maybe. I see trees, but I can't tell if there's leafs on them or not.

It was how I made sure whether or not I was heading straight for a marshland biome. I mean, marshlands have ponds- don't they? God, this Parasite is making thinking unbearably! I can't remember what's in which biome! There have to be something to drink- whether or not it's a marshland or not!

I grumbled slightly, kicking sand in the air before quickly regretting it as the sand got caught in my eyes, "Ack!" I hissed out, rubbing my eyes uselessly against my eyes, blinking several times before finally being able to see clearly- kind of..

I decided to take a break- sitting down on a rock rock, I rubbed my temples, looking up at the sky, I shook my head at the annoying headache I was gaining from the overbearing heat.

I was panting heavily like some sort of animal in heat, looking around for only a second, I stopped when I saw what looked to be a pack of hounds grouped around something. I could hear their barking and howling from all the way over here. I could've just left, but when I heard the distinct cry of another person, I just had to help.

I grabbed my spear and quickly made my way towards the pack of hounds, with one quick swing of my arm, the spear found itself branded into the back of one of the hounds skull, its cry was short lived as it died rather quickly due to the spear going straight through its brain. This had caught the other hounds attention, turning their attention towards me, some of them still focused on the human lying still on the ground. I backed away a few feet, trying to draw the three fire hounds away from the person before attacking them.

Two jumped at me, I turned my spear horizontally, stabbing one fire hound in the throat before lifting its body with all of my strength and tossing it at the other hound that had jumped at me, letting that one fire hound catch on fire and setting a few of the hounds of fire, they barked, howled, and snarled at me, now this got the others attention. Two fire hounds and seven normal hounds.

'If I can group them together and kill the fire hounds then I could easily get rid of most of them!' I began to run away from the person's body, yelling at the hounds to keep their attention focused on me, I even took a few swipes at the fire hounds to make sure that when they're grouped together it'll be easier to kill them.

It took awhile, but I manage to do it. All the hounds were killed and I was returning back to the person that was still lying still on the ground. They were laying face down in the sand, their jack was torn and tattered, from the constant attacks from the hounds but their undershirt remained intact. Turning the body over onto their back, I froze seeing how badly damaged their body was. The blood was caked with sand and dirt, making it much harder to see her face underneath the blood, but I could tell that this person was a female. I did her a favor and took the torn jacket off of her body, taking in the other wounds on her body.

With one quick movement, I used my clawed hands to cut through the fabric of her already torn jacket, using the pieces of fabric to clean up some of the wounds blood, Wilson sat there for about a minute, continuing to do this before he finally decided to get out of this god forsaken desert.

‘She doesn’t even have a backpack with her.. Did she just get here? I have so many questions!’ I thought, trying to figure out what I’m going to do with her. I mean, she’s the first person I’ve ever seen here that wasn’t Maxwell or a skeleton of past survivors!

I picked her up gently, letting her head rest on my left shoulder as her arms hanged limply from my sides as her legs did the same, however she did stir a little bit, letting out a pitiful groan of pain before falling limp again. ‘Well, at least she isn’t dead yet..’ I mused, beginning to walk towards the next biome- there I could make a temporary camp, I just hope that I could make it there in time before she bleeds out to death..


	6. Let Me Help You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilson tries to save the new survivor, but he’s unsure if she’ll survive the night.

I had finally reached the next biome, which was luckily a forest filled with pine trees, grass, dead bushes, berries- food..

My stomach made a growling noise, which I ignored for a moment, 'I'll get you food later, just let me take care of this girl first.' I scolded my stomach, 'I just ate a whole pigman just awhile ago! God, I hate this stupid curse..' I came to stop by a tall pine tree that seemed to sway on its own even without the wind blowing, I ignored it for now, there was also a big pond next to the tree. I sat my bag down first, stuck my bloodied spear into the ground and then placed the girl gently on the ground. I went through my bag, grabbing my torn vest that I kept to use as a wash cloth, I also grabbed a medium sized wooden bowl out of my bag. Walking over to the pond, I dunked the wooden bowl into the pond, gathering water, I then returned next to the girl, looking up towards the sky, I took note on how the sun was beginning to set. Going back to my bag, I grabbed some rocks and twigs, starting a campfire right in the middle of this temporary camp, I went back to my bag and grabbed a very flat and thin rock, 'I knew this'll come in handy!' I placed the rock horizontally on two bigger rocks surrounding the fire, using it as a way to keep the flat rock from smothering the fire, I placed the bowl on the fire to make pure water, I don't want to accidentally infect one of her wounds because the water wasn't purified.

While I was waiting for the water to get purified I decided to use some traps I had on me and put them to use, finding a couple of bunny holes nearby, I placed the traps near the bunny hole before returning back to the girl.

My stomach gave off another growl, this time a shot of pain ran through my body, 'Maybe I have some meat lying around somewhere..' I dug through my bag, tossing a couple of tools out to get better access to my bag, I froze when I came across the spare monster meat I had left over from when I ran into that pack of hounds in the middle of the desert.

'Maybe if I just..?' In one quick movement, I took a chomp out of the monster meat, for a second I thought I would experience pain in my mouth because of the sharp, spiky skin that decorated the flesh of the monster meat, but instead I didn't feel any pain. I mean, the meat was tough and crunchy, but it didn't bother me anymore, pulling the meat away from my face, I swallowed the meat down, swiping my tongue around my mouth to see if I had anything piercing the inside of my mouth. When I didn't find anything, I shrugged it off and continued to eat the monster meat.

The girl behind me let out a low groan before hissing something incomprehensible under her breath, I turned to the girl, 'I almost forgot she was still here..' I placed rest of the monster meat down into my bag, going over to the now boiling water, I took the bowl off of the hot, flat rock, returning to the girls side, I wrapped my vest around my hand. Thanks to the blistering cold air when night approached, the water cooled down quite a bit, allowing the water to remain warm as I dunk my vest into the bowl, letting it gather water, I then used it as a washcloth to get rid of the blood painting the girls face. I leaned forward, dabbing her face with the water, letting the dried up blood get soaked with water, I then took ahold of her chin, holding her face still as I began to wipe and clean up the blood on her face exposing open cuts and bruises that littered her face.

I was careful not to make any of the wounds bleed anymore, but it was difficult to handle. I sat there for almost 30 minutes, cleaning her face. I then turned towards my bag, pulling it over towards me, I tossed in a few pairs of grass into the to the fire to keep it going while also fetching some salve.

Taking it out, I got a small scoop of it on my index finger, using the salve to cover up the open wounds to heal, the girl let out a small hiss of pain when I applied the salve to one of her cuts that ran down her cheek that seem to keep bleeding no matter how many times I cleaned the blood up. I checked her cuts and applied the salve to the worse injuries. There were a few that'll heal fine on there own, but it's best to get the bad injures out of the way. Once I was done with her face, I moved to cleaning her injured arm. I remembered that a fire hound was going to town with her right arm, trying to pull the arm out of the socket to use as a chew toy. One thing that I hated about fire hounds were how their bites sent waves of heat searing through your body, making your body feel like it's being set on fire.

I put the salve to the side, knowing that this wound needs to be treated right away, I dunked my vest into the bowl of warm water, which was now even a darker red than before, soaking it again, I started to dab my wet vest onto the wound, jumping away when her arm pulled away from me quickly. I looked up to see that she was awake- well, almost.

She was waking up, her one good eye was opening up- the other was caked with so much blood that it temporarily blinded her for a few weeks. I gave her a worried look as she quickly became confused and frightened, she went to sit up, but I pushed her down gently, she didn't have a lot of force behind her when she struggled to get back up, but I could tell that she had no idea what was going on.

"Hey, miss- It's alright! I'm not going to hurt you." I reassured her, "I'm just trying to clean your wounds, see?" I held up my hands in defense to show that I wasn't going to hurt her.

The girl gave me a confused look, I could tell that she wanted to say something, but she seemed to have held it back. "You're tired and confused- just.. just let me help you and you'll be able to get some rest, hm?" I gave her a small smile, she seemed to like that idea, so she laid back down and closed her eyes as I went back to cleaning her wound.

When I was done, the girl was fast asleep and the moon didn't even past over the trees yet. "Winters getting closer and closer.." I muttered to myself, taking one quick glance at the girl, I had put bandages around her head and her right arm. It kept her cuts from bleeding out and making a mess, but it also kept the other predators that lived on this island from finding her.

I shook my head from the negative thoughts that began to creep up into my mind.

‘You won't be able to protect her.’

"I know." I responded to the little voice in my head, it laughed at me as I felt its claws dig into my skull- a memory flashed in my mind- 'Willow..'

‘She'll die just like her.. just like our poor lil' lady, Willow!’

It acted as if it wanted a crowd to laugh at its little jokes.

"I know that." I sat down next to the dying fire, putting a log in it, I watched as the fire grew, illuminating more and more of the small temporary camp. "I'm just hoping that she'll make it through the night." It felt like someone was watching my every move as I just sat there and watched the girl, seeing if I missed any other wound on her body.

‘Turn around, pal.’

I froze when I heard that damn voice, turning around with such force that I made myself dizzy. I scanned the darkness for any signs of the demon that trapped us here, but to my luck, no one- not even the sign of his cigar glowing in the dark- was visible. I can hear that parasite laughing in my head, it laughed at how quickly I reacted- how terrified I was.

I sighed, "Just shut up so I can get some sleep." I turned back around to the girl, seeing that she had shifted a little bit in her sleep, I curled up into a ball, resting my head down on my knees, I soon felt my eyelids become heavy. Sleep was finally taking over, and I was so happy to finally escape this nightmare for once in my life.


	7. Tina Ann

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than the others, sorry about that.

When morning came around, I was the first to wake up. The girl was still fast asleep and she didn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon.

I did myself a favor and checked the girls wounds, just to make sure none of them had gotten infected, and just my luck, all of the wounds seem to be doing better than before! I smiled happily at her, but I knew if she wakes up she’ll be hungry, so I’ll do us both a favor and go hunt for some food.

Standing up from my spot, I pulled my spear out of the ground and put my backpack on before heading deeper into the woods to go find something for the both of us to eat.

It did take awhile, but after about an hour of searching I found a whole field filled with rabbits and beefalo! ‘Hm, I guess I can set up a campsite here..’ I made a mental note to try and build a crockpot to cook the rabbits more easily than roasting them over the fire. I spent about three minutes hunting down several rabbits and killing them before they could escape, ‘If I find Chester this’ll make carrying stuff around a lot easier!’ I thought to myself as I threw the last dead rabbit corpse into my bag.

Returning back to camp, I froze seeing that the girl was gone. “Where did she go?” I put my bag down and quickly began looking around the small camp, “Why would she just leave?” I asked myself outloud, before I heard a twig snap, I spun around just in time to see the girl swinging a shovel at me. “Woah!” I shouted in surprise as I blocked the shovel with my spear, “What the hell?!” I glared at the girl as she seemingly regretted doing that, pulling away, she went to run.

“Hey, wait!” I yelled giving chase after the girl. The girl was fast, but I was somehow faster than her. Quickly catching up to her in a couple of seconds, I wrapped my arms around her torso and tackled her to the ground. “Get off!” She shouted, her voice straining as she shouted ‘she mustn’t use it a lot.’ I got up quickly off of the ground, pulling the girl up as well. “Come on, kid.” I tried to bring the girl back to camp but with one quick punch to the face, and I was on the ground with the girl running away again.

I groaned in pain, holding my face in agony. ‘Seriously? I saved her life and this is how she repays me? With a punch to the face! How rude.’ I slowly got up, holding my broken nose, I looked around for a second before scowling. “Bah, forget her Wilson! She’s obviously crazy.” Standing up slowly, I watched as the girls silhouette disappeared behind the rows of trees that made up this forest. Part of me wanted to rip her throat out for even laying a finger on me while the other part of me just wanted to yell at her for being so ignorant, but now I can’t do anything.

Rubbing my temple, I decided to head back to camp to make myself an axe so I can start chopping down some trees.

“Bloody vermin..” I muttered to myself, “I do one thing nice and I get my head almost chopped off and punched in the face! Last time I’m ever doing anything nice for anyone!” I let out a low growling noise, kicking up some dirt before heading towards my fire pit, tossing in a few logs, I used flint and some rocks to start the fire, before roasting some of the rabbits I caught in the open field over the fire.

It didn’t take long for the girl to appear again, though when she did, she looked guilty and like she wanted to cry. “If you’re here to apologize, you can start by telling me your name.” I only glanced at her for a second before turning back around towards the open fire. The girl walked beside me, sitting down for a second, she was looking at me for a second before saying, “My… my name’s Tina..” her voice was barely above a whisper, and as I turned my attention towards her, it was more noticeable of how young she actually looks. “What’s your name?” Tina was now sitting next to me, huddling close to the fire to get warm, “Wilson P. Higgsbury.” I gave her a small smile, but when she jumped back a little bit, I immediately looked back at the fire.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke softly, “I— it's just that, you looked like one of those creatures and I gotten startled when I saw you approaching the camp..” she had a slight Irish accent, and it didn’t help that she was not only injured but looked to be only a young adult.

“It’s alright,” I reassured her, “I didn’t always look like this.” I glanced down at my hand, noticing the tips of my fingers were now coated in black, “You were a human?” Looking back at her, she had a look of interest on her face, obviously she wanted to know more about me and what had happened to me, and so I told her mostly everything.

We talked until the sun had set and till it rose above the horizon, and by then, Tina was tired and falling asleep where she was sitting. Snow had started to fall and the air was noticeably a lot colder now that winter was here. “I’ll be right back,” I patted Tina’s back, causing the poor girl to wake up, “Hm?” She turned towards me, “Where’re you going?”

I grabbed my backpack and spear, “We need a tent, we can’t stay out here all winter sleeping next to the fire.” As I went to turn around I told her that I would return back to camp around noon once I get a few more silk, “Can I help?” Tina was following me.

I spun around shaking my head, “No, no, no!” I tried to push her gently back to camp, but she dug the heels of her boots into the ground. “You’re injured and could die from hypothermia! Stay near the fire and keep it going until I get back.” I ordered her, but she didn’t budge. Instead, she looked at me and said, “Well, I can go pick some grass if you want? You’re going to need some rope for the tent! And look—“ she pointed into the open field where rabbits roamed free as well as some beefalo wondering around, there was a lot of tall grass in the open field, “—I can go over there and get the grass you need! I already know how to make rope as well!” I sighed in defeat, “Fine.” I let Tina go, watching her hurry over to the field and watch her collect the grass needed to make the rope, I shrugged when I saw her glance my way and turned around, a nagging feeling in the back of my mind told me that I should stay to make sure nothing bad happens to her, but honestly, what could go wrong?

By the time I came back the sun was at its highest peak, returning back to camp was easy enough, but when Tina wasn’t anywhere near the camp or in the field, I began to panic.

“Tina?” I called out, dropping the backpack and began running around the camp area, hoping to find her. “Tina, where are you?” I ran into the field, I couldn’t see her, and for a moment, I thought she actually left. Probably gathered whatever she needed and left. Something in my chest was aching, I just met her yesterday, what was this happening?

Maybe because she reminded you of her.

I wanted to punch that damn voice in the back of my head, “I know that, but it doesn’t excuse why I am—“ “Who are you talking to?” I spun on my heels, facing Tina, who was not only holding at least ten freshly tied ropes, but also had some logs and a newly branded axe and pickaxe that hung loosely from her shoulder, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to run off.” She smiled kindly at me, “I was just getting some other resources so that we could hopefully build a science machine.” She looks so proud of herself.. I gave her a warm smile, wrapping my right arm around her shoulders, “You had me worried for a second, but I’m glad you’re okay.” As we returned to camp, Tina set her belongings down, while I was gone, she had not only manage to get plenty of enough rope, she also gathered logs and rocks. I handed her a few pieces of gold that were in the backpack, she smiled at me, thanked me, and went to building the science machine, I helped out a little, but other than that, she had the machine built in under two minutes.

‘Not bad for a beginner.’ I thought to myself, though she obviously knew what to do, as if she had been through this before.

I was quick to build the tent, since I already knew how to do that, just like she had the knowledge to make rope and maybe some other things. I watch as Tina made a few chests after cutting the logs up into wooden boards, and used those to make a chest, she tossed the rope that we still had left over into the chest and a few rocks as well. In under a week, we both had made a base camp.

My stomach growled hungrily making me let out a sigh of annoyance, “You didn’t get anything to eat while you were out?” Tina was by the fire when she asked me that question, I shook my head, “No, I’m so used to not being this hungry that I forget that I usually need to eat every three hours.” Tina nodded in understanding before walking over to my backpack and opening it, throwing some monster meat at me, I caught it gratefully and began to wolf down the meat.

Tina had went out again to go get the materials to make two straw rolls for us to sleep on to keep ourselves warm tonight. The snow has stopped falling but it didn’t help that the ground was now covered in about two inches of snow.

By the time dusk rolled around Tina had returned and she used the science machine to make the straw rolls before settling them on the ground in the tent.

We both stayed up for only a few minutes, enjoying the sunset and eating a little bit before heading to bed, but now that I am laying on my straw roll, my back pressed against Tina’s, I now notice how no matter how many times I toss and turn, I couldn’t fall asleep. Tina however was fast asleep, her breathing was soft and calming.

I glanced over my shoulder to get a good look at her, her eyes were closed, her legs were pulled up and almost touching her chest with her arms acting like a pillow to lay on, a frown appeared on my face. ‘She looks cold’ I turned onto my other side to where my chest was nearly touching her back, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and pull her close to warm her up, but I stopped myself when remembering that she probably wouldn’t want that, she wasn’t like Willow, who would’ve practically tackled me to the ground just to get warm. I allowed Tina to just lay there, but when she began to shake and shiver in her spot, I wanted to do something. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around her torso, leaning closer so that she could get a little bit warm.

Tina reacted first by shifting around in her sleep, then rolling onto her back before finally rolling onto her side to face me, her eyes were closed and her arms pulled close to her chest, I frowned for a moment, resting my chin on top of her head, I tried to ignore the fact that her skin was ice cold. She was freezing to death. I didn’t move from my spot, but I could feel my skin shift, the parasite was moving again.

I could see it, moving along my arm, it pushed and pressed against my flesh, wanting out. It wants a new host.

I pulled my hand away from Tina, I didn’t want her to be given this curse. The parasite didn’t like it, I felt my teeth shift, my back and tailbone was beginning to send waves of pain throughout my body as I begin to receive the worst migraine ever. I let out a strangled cry for help, but my voice was gone. In its place was a deep animalistic growl, I could see Tina moving in her sleep. She was waking up. I pull myself away from her, the sounds of my bones popping and cracking reached my ears, I covered them in hopes to stop the noises from being heard, but I knew Tina could hear everything. I saw her eyes shift, I wanted to do something but all that came out of my mouth was inhuman growls and saliva. I couldn’t move.

By the time Tina had fully woke up, I was laying in a fetal position, the pain had finally subsided as Tina began looking around frantically, “.. over here.” I croaked out, watching as Tina looked over towards where I was laying, obviously her eyes weren’t as adapted to the darkness like mine were, but nevertheless she managed to move over to where I was, pressing her hand against my shoulder, “What happened?” Her eyes didn’t meet mine, but that’s because she couldn’t see me. “Nightmare.” I responded, trying to coax her back to falling asleep, “You should get some rest, it’s pretty late.” I got up from my spot, maneuvering Tina back onto the straw roll, “You have feathers..?” That comment made me pause, ‘Feathers?’ I could feel Tina’s hands roam to my back, before grabbing a handful of— I jumped a little from the sudden feeling, “Cut that out..!” I warned, grabbing her arms and pushing them away from me. “You have wings.” I shook my head, “No I don’t—“ I was cut off when Tina reached her hand out to stroke one of my wings, “Yes you do, they’re just too small.” Tina sounded tired and as I watch her lay back down, it wasn’t even a minute before she was knock out, sleeping next to me. I let out a small sigh, laying down next to me, her arms soon found themselves locked around my torso, using my body heat to keep her warm.

I spent the next half hour staring at the ground, I kept Tina close to me, her shivering was getting worse and worse every passing minute, and I knew that we needed to get an alchemy engine up and running so that I could make a thermal stone for her.

It was no surprise that when morning came around, I found out that I had fallen asleep and my new.. wings were wrapped securely around Tina’s body, providing warmth from the cold. The wings were black with a little bit of white decorating the tips of the feathers, but the wings were not too long or big, they looked as if they could only reach my elbows on my arms, I definitely couldn’t fly with these, but that wasn’t the only thing that changed, my horns grey out and now I had a noticeable tail. I knew from that moment that my life was never going to be the same again.

I was living in my own nightmare.


End file.
